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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Ordi's Ocular Optimizer

“Owww....”

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, just fine. You?”

“Grand. Nothing like a pit trap to remind me how much I hate dwarves.”

The two elves disentangled themselves and looked around. The hole they found themselves in was made of worked stone, was a mere 10 feet square, and very deep. The flickering torchlight did not reach the top of the pit. Picking up the torch the elves noticed a body curled into the corner. It was a dead human in black and mustard clothing. His only adornment was a gold band across his eyes.

The elf not holding the torch took the band from the body and examined it. “Why would he have had this on his face?”

“Probably how he came to fall in the pit. The stupid human couldn’t see where he was going!”

“Maybe it’s magical?”

“Try it on.”

The elf slipped the band over his eyes, then cried out, dropping it to the ground and clasping his hands over his face.

“Ryl’tar?”

“Lloth preserve me... I’m blind...”

Hours later Ryl’tar sat in total darkness. His foot tapped something, and he reached down to feel what it was. The gold band. Turning it over in his hands, he again put it up to his eyes.

“There’s a way out!”

“How would you know? You’re blind!”

“Yes, but with this, I can see different than you, better in some ways. And I can see that there is a passageway through this wall. I just can’t see how to open it, and unless we can figure it out, we’re stuck here.”

“Your gold band didn’t do him any good” the dark elf said, pointing at the desiccated body curled in the corner.

“Maybe” replied the blind elf “but judging by the broken leg he suffered, probably in the fall, he wasn’t in any condition to try to get out.”

Ordi's Ocular Optimizer
This item appears to be a band of gold and silver that is molded to fit over the eyes of a medium sized humanoid. The outward portion is decorated with very fine abstract etchings. Anyone attempting to wear this item must make a saving throw vs. dragons breath or go blind. Passing the saving throw will result in 1d4 points of damage, and render a character unable to use this item. If the character is already blind, no saving throw is required, and the character will be able to automatically use the item.

Wearing the item will allow the character the ability to see in total darkness, however the character can only ever see in black and white. In addition it will allow the character to detect traps and secret passages on a roll of 2 or better on a d6. However the constant visual input will cause the wearer to suffer a -1 to all attack rolls and to armor class.